


Just a Man, Not a Hero

by childofmischief



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Father Son Bonding, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 08:59:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofmischief/pseuds/childofmischief
Summary: Percy has a nightmare again, and needs some parental comfort.





	Just a Man, Not a Hero

Percy shot up in his bed, sweat drenching his face. His chest heaved as he stared into the darkness of his cabin that he resided in, alone. Through the window fluttered in the little moonlight he has, casting white streaks of light across the floor covered in clothes and candy wrappers. 

Tears came to his eyes. “Get yourself together Jackson.” He whispered to himself, reminding himself of what Sally would mutter after a fight with Gabe. The mere thought of his ex-stepfather burned a fire in his chest, almost replacing the burning of tears. He slammed his eyes shut, in an attempt to keep them from escaping. “You’re in cabin 3, your father’s cabin.” Percy continued to whisper to himself. “You’re…” He opened his eyes, the tears starting to fall steadily. “Home.”

He got up, throwing his sheets carelessly to the side. On the floor, right next to his feet was a shirt that he picked up, and threw it on, backwards. But in the moment, Percy could care less. By the door, was his old pair of flip flops that he slipped on before quietly stepping outside. 

The cool air hit him, almost rustling his hair and shirt. With tears still rolling down his cheeks, he looked up to see the stars shining bright. Before his eyes could catch on a certain constellation that still burned in his chest, setting his green eyes forward, to the ocean. 

Tears still streamed down his face, but silently. In the dark, if one did not see them reflected in the moonlight, he just seemed like a determined man. And, in a way he was. But he was also a broken man. Broken by the weight of the world on his shoulders, both figuratively and literally. He had been to Hell and back, and if that doesn’t change someone, nothing will.

He made it to the shore and finally looked back up at the stars and saw her. Zoë Nightshade, the girl who just wanted to see the stars again. 

He fell to his knees, his sobs becoming audible. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.” He cried, shoulders shaking violently. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect my girlfriend, or my friends.” Percy fell forward, his fists clenched in the sand, and forehead resting on the ground. “Luke, Zoë, Bianca...and countless others. Dead. Because of me.”

And despite himself, he screamed, screamed as loud as he could in the dark of night. He shot up and looked to the water. “Poseidon!” He yelled, at the top of his lungs. “Dad!”

To his surprise, a loud rush of water filled the space around him, and emerged Poseidon, looking like a normal dude on vacation, completely dry, except for the slight dampness of his black hair. He looked concerned, and came to sit next to his son, taking his hand. “Percy?” He said. “What’s wrong, my son?”

Percy began to sob again, both at the fact someone finally asked him, and also that his father actually responded to him. He didn’t even know if he could force the words out of himself to tell him. Percy felt his chest heaving without his input, the only thing telling him he was even still alive. “I-I’m broken.” He whispered. “Tartarus broke me.” Percy’s voice broke as he sunk further into his father’s embrace. Even so, it was foreign to him, the only one who ever really comforted him when he was growing up was his mom. 

“You’re not broken, my son.” Poseidon held him closer, rocking his oldest mortal son back and forth. “You can get past this, I know that.”

Percy slumped forward even more, his hair falling over his eyes. He sobbed louder, the sound sharp and quick in the night. “I can’t do this.” He cried. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“Don’t do anything rash, Percy.” Poseidon whispered. “You’re needed, my son. Your time is not up in this world.”

“I’ve done enough!” Percy yelled, pushing away with a fire in his eyes, his chest heaves with angered breaths. “I’ve fought your wars, I’ve done your quests! Isn’t that enough?!”

“Percy!” Poseidon hissed. “Be quiet!”

Percy stood, and walked back to his cabin, ignoring Poseidon’s desperate calls for his son. He ran, closing his eyes in an attempt to keep tears at bay. How no one had woken up and investigated was beyond him. He looked up when he reached his porch, sighing. The stars were beautiful, they were always beautiful. 

With a creaking of the door, Percy slipped back into the cabin, grabbing a drachma from an old sack of his. Walking over the fountain, he flicked on the light and threw it into the fountain. 

“Sally Jackson.” He said, in an almost whisper. “New York, New York.” 

Surprisingly, Percy is greeted by the tired face of his mother. “Percy, honey, are you okay?”

Percy looked down, his hair falling over his eyes again and hiccuped. “Not really.” He whispered. “I just saw dad.”

“Poseidon?” Sally wished she could hold her distressed son in her arms like Poseidon had. “Percy, what’s wrong?”

Tears came into his eyes again, as he collapsed into a chair right behind him. “I’m scared, ma." He closed his eyes. “I’ve seen some shit. So many people died, kids died.” Behind his eyelids, memories of war and Tartarus were forever burned in his mind. He couldn’t sleep without the memories haunting him. “How will we recover?”

“You will.” Sally whispered in a calm tone, the only tone in the world that could always, without fail, calm him. “You’re my strong boy. The strongest man I have ever known.” She smiled sadly at him. “Tell you what,”

Percy opened his eyes, and looked into his mother’s familiar, comforting eyes. 

“You and Annabeth should come visit me tomorrow.”

Percy nodded, a soft smile on his lips. “I would love too.”

“Remember Percy, you’re just a man, not a hero. I don’t expect you to be in all these wars.” Sally smiled. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

She was right. Percy was a man, and that was okay. He didn’t have to be a hero anymore.


End file.
